A report from 2009, from KnowledgeWorks called 2020 Forecast: Creating the Future of Learning caught my attention. It identifies six major drivers of change that might unleash a wild world of learning quite unlike any system of schooling we’ve ever experienced. What I’m finding is that it’s increasingly a story-driven game that places students at the center of their learning experience, much like an MMORPG. In any case, the singularity is one narrative I imagine will drastically alter what it means to be a student interfacing with a world undergoing ecological and economic shifts.

In the section called Altered Bodies we’re reminded that neuroscientists have begun to design neuro-enhancements that might soon provide “customized learning experiences” that push the boundaries of ethics and cognitive rights. Learners are forecast to have “more and more options for modifying their minds and bodies in support of peak performance even as they navigate increasing levels of bio-distress.” I’m reminded of what H.G. Wells would say is urgently needed to prevent our own extinction, “the evolution of a new more powerful type of man.”

“What is the role of your presence in this particular time and space?” I asked that question exactly two years ago today in a piece I curated on Biocentrism. It’s a theory that lends a unified view of the foundations of science by turning reality outside-in. In other words, it assumes the primacy of consciousness by asserting that life creates the universe, rather than the other way around.

I can’t say the perspective is entirely “shocking” for me. Partially because I’m stimulated by ideas that conjoin the camps of Science and Religion. I see them both as allies in ensuring the survival of our species. What’s cool about Biocentrism is that we can assume consciousness plays role in shaping our universe. Why is that cool? Well, in case you haven’t noticed, you’re a highly conscious mind with a brain unlike any other. I’d like to think you could make an impact.

You should know the key proponent of Biocentrism is Robert Lanza, a stem cell researcher, who has been so bold to turn the table on physics by suggesting that life doesn’t emerge from matter. Rather than keeping biology and physics separate, his model combines them and places we, the observers, firmly in the equation.

Wildcat2030 suggests that information overload is destabilizing our minds allowing for the emergence of the hyperconnected mind. He speaks of our increase in fluid intelligence: “the ability to find meaning in confusion … solve new problems … draw inferences and understand the relationships of various concepts, independent of acquired knowledge” (wikipedia). More importantly, we can “find meaning in confusion”.

A “hyperconnected narrative” is needed, Wildcat2030 adds, “to re-appraise the context of our worldviews”. Our states of minds shaped by narratives which contain “stories within stories”. Through these stories our minds intertwine into “larger framework of co-adaptive consensual adhocracies”. We experience freedom when enmeshed in the coherent and integrated flow space of hyperconnectivity. Our hyper-intelligence helps us think more critically, denying the “rigidity of the Neolitihic mind system”, yet with empathy.

Jason Liszkiewicz from re-configure.org tells us that “we are the most advanced technology” and that societies are “supercomputers”. He suggests the public needs a “system of world simulation” in which participants can earn “social currency credits” from their mobile devices by engaging in large-scale problem solving and global brainstorming. A form of virtual reality could begin to influence reality, as individuals “collaborate, create, and reinvent” their communities.